Eustace Fargo
Eustace Fargo was the first chief judge of Mega-City One. Biography Eustace Fargo was born on 9th January, 1999.[10] Graduating from Harvard with a degree in Law, he went into politics and by 2027 he had been appointed Government Special Prosecutor for Street Crime by President Thomas Gurney, tasked with combating the rising gang violence in the vast urban sprawl joining Washington to New York (which would eventually become Mega-City One). After armed gangs stormed the White House and were able to avoid jail sentences by intimidating juries, Fargo outlined a New Deal to scrap the principle of due process and create a combined police and judicial force who could fairly dispense instant justice – the Judges. When the Judges were first deployed in April 2031, they acted mainly as an upgraded police force but soon rivalled Congress in power. Fargo served as chief judge for twenty years. Faked Death The dates on Fargo's tomb read 2001–2051. The reason for the false birth date was lost in time, though Judge Dredd speculated: "It's the date he always used. Maybe he wanted to be thought a child of the 21st century." In March 2051 Fargo – despite having established a rule of celibacy for the judges – had a moment of weakness and was caught having sex with a government colleague. While the incident was hushed up and Deputy Chief Judges Solomon and Goodman were both willing to ignore it, Fargo was left feeling guilty over his failure to live up to his own standards. He resigned his position and attempted suicide, though the wound only left him comatose. To cover this up and to use his martyrdom as a symbol, Solomon made up a cover story about Fargo being killed in a drive-by shooting. It was not expected that he would recover but he did, though this was also covered up, and he was placed in suspended animation. 2070s In 2070 Judge Morton Judd proposed genetically engineering the citizens of Mega-City One, but Fargo believed the Judges were meant to serve the citizens rather than control them, and he vetoed the plan. After attempting to assassinate Fargo, Judd fled the city with a batch of stolen genetic material, including Fargo's, and used it to create the "Judda", a private army of clones (including Kraken). Dredd personally killed Kraken and another of Judd's Fargo clones (whose name was not given in the comic), and arrested another called Simeon (who was presumably later executed). All of the Judda were eventually killed by a drive-by shooting. When President Robert L. Booth initiated the Atomic Wars in June 2070, the Judges were forced to take on the job of governing the Mega-Cities of The Former United States of America. Fargo was revived and made relatively stable, meeting his two clones Rico Dredd and Joseph Dredd and being called in to help guide the Justice Department. Under his guidance, the Judges assumed command of the United States using the Declaration of Independence as a legal precedent. Booth learned Fargo was alive and, thinking he could use this fact to discredit the Judges, tried to capture him and reveal his existence but failed due to the actions of Joe and Rico Dredd. Until 2071, Fargo served secretly as an advisor to the chief judge, with most people believing he had died in 2051. In his last year of life he began to deteriorate mentally, and lost faith in his Judge System. He became increasingly despondent as a result, disliking the fact that the Judges had turned America into a dictatorship. 2100's era Eustace Fargo had a twin brother, Ephram Fargo, who the people of Fargoville refuse to speak of and have wiped from their historical records. Ephram's Mutant descendants still inhabit the Cursed Earth, led by Randy Fargo. Eustace also had a sister, Arden Polders, who died shortly after the Apocalypse War of 2104. He was placed into suspended animation once more, only for his body to be stolen by renegade judges and eventually lost in the Cursed Earth. His body and stasis pod became an object of worship for a mutant tribe. In 2129 persons unknown – later discovered to be the New Mutant Army led by Booth – contacted the Justice Department, demanding cash in return for Fargo's body. Judge Dredd retrieved Fargo, who was revived, but the long period of being frozen had damaged his body and he soon died. His last words were to Dredd, telling him the Judges' rule was wrong and that he had to reverse it. Fargoville in the 2100s (22nd century) Fargo's hometown still exists it is now called Fargoville block. It has been renamed Fargoville in his honor. There most of the men there have a first name of Eustace or variations in other languages. Most women here are named after Eustace's girlfriends from his youth. A important land mark there is a museum about his life. it even shows educational vids about his early life. Family and DNA Although most judge cadets at the Academy of Law are recruited from the citizens at a young age, the Justice Department also runs a Cloning program, in which the DNA of Mega-City One's most successful judges is used to create new cadets. Clones created from the same DNA as Fargo and Dredd include: *Judge Joseph Dredd *Rico Dredd *Judge Rico *Kraken *Dolman *Cadet Nimrod Rico Dredd fathered a daughter, Vienna Dredd, who genetically speaking could be Fargo's daughter. (She is Joseph Dredd's niece.) See Also *Chief Judge Fargo (Max von Sydow)